This invention generally relates to equipment and methods used to take a person's blood pressure. In particular, it relates to the use of a protective wrap in conjunction with a sphygmomanometer.
Persons seeking medical care frequently have their blood pressure checked. This procedure is performed with a sphygmomanometer, which is used by wrapping an inflatable cuff around a person's limb (e.g., an arm or leg). The cuff is then inflated and deflated while a gauge on the sphygmomanometer is read to obtain the blood pressure. This procedure is repeated each time a medical treatment provider desires to take a person's blood pressure.
It is well known that persons seeking medical care can have varying types of skin diseases, rashes, ulcers, and/or abrasions. These conditions can occur on many areas of the body, including a person's upper and lower limbs. As a result of these conditions, the previously described procedure for using a sphygmomanometer can yield undesirable results when used in multiple patient settings, such as in a hospital or physician's office. In particular, if a sphygmomanometer is used on a person having contagious fluids exposed on the skin, the cuff on the sphygmomanometer may become contaminated with those fluids. Subsequent use of the same sphygmomanometer cuff on a second person will likely transfer the contaminated fluids to the second person and may subsequently cause infection.
Various devices that purportedly protect persons from contaminating each other due to the repeated use of a sphygmomanometer have been proposed. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,606,880; 3,757,722; 3,773,036; 4,548,249; 4,967,758 and 5,251,646. Each of the devices described in these patents, however, have one or more drawbacks which make their use impractical. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,606,880; 3,757,722 and 3,773,036, the entire cuff is disposable so that the device is rather expensive to use. On the other hand, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,548,249; 4,967,758 and 5,251,646, various disposable protective liners or covers are placed around a sphygmomanometer cuff before each use, so that the protective covers are difficult and time consuming to use.
As a result, an inexpensive, easily used device is needed to prevent the spread of disease when using a sphygmomanometer.